Before Da Vinci's Helicopter

Unlike the acorn, the maple seed can fall pretty far from the tree.

High-speed video reveals that maple seed pods remain airborne for miles by harnessing the power of tornado-like vortexes generated as they spin.

The flat, elongated pods are densest at their seed-containing ends, a configuration that causes them to rotate while falling.

Rotation produces the pods’ nickname — whirlybirds — and creates tiny vortexes above their leading edges. By pulling in air, a vortex lowers air pressure above a pod’s surface, effectively sucking it upwards.

It's the season here. Walking home, I had to make my way through a storm of the things.

With whirling grace
they go,
seeking a place
to grow.